Institutions of higher learning are not immune to office romance. The most well known such relationship at Oakland University was recently called into question by a former student-athlete, but it's unclear if it violated the school's conflict of interest policy.

Former women's basketball coach Beckie Francis and former university president Gary Russi were married while employed by Oakland University, where they met and began dating, for more than a decade.

Russi announced his retirement, effective Aug. 1, on June 12, just hours before Francis' firing was announced, after nearly 20 years and vast expansion of the Rochester-area school.

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Francis was hired in 1997, two years into Russi's presidency. The couple were married in 1999.

"I don't see this as a conflict of interest if everybody went into this with their eyes wide open," said Southfield-based employment attorney Daniel Swanson. "This was obviously well known."

In more than 30 years of employment litigation, Swanson said he could not recall a similar case, adding the Board of Trustees involuntarily gave its consent to the relationship if it did not take action to address it.

A university spokesman was unable to confirm if the Board of Trustees discussed the issue specifically.

The university's conflict of interest policy on nepotism was first adopted by its Board of Trustees in 1993 and reissued by the school's legal and human resources departments in January of this year. The board had previously issued a broader conflict of interest policy in 1981, No. 406, which was updated in 2003.

Policy No. 407, "Conflict of Interest - Nepotism," was issued in January of 2013 with very little change, because Oakland University administrators felt the previous board-issued policy on nepotism needed to be made more known, according to a university spokesman.

The policy states a personal relationship of one employee to another -- through blood, adoption or marriage -- cannot create an advantage with respect to employment or working conditions at the university.

No one from Oakland University's human resources department was available for comment.

The nepotism policy adds no employee should be placed under the indirect or direct supervision of a relative -- a stipulation for which the president is allowed to make exceptions. Exception could be made if decisions about the relative's employment are subject to review by an unrelated supervisor or another designated university employee. Francis answered to director of athletics Tracy Huth, who in turn reported to Russi.

"That puts the athletic director in a hell of a position," Swanson said. "It's a political hot potato."

The president, according to a Department of Athletics Policy and Procedure manual available on the school's website, is responsible for ensuring the athletics department abides by the guidelines established by the university and the board of trustees, as well as the NCAA and the school's athletic conference.

After five seasons as head coach at Oakland, Francis took a three-year hiatus from 2002-05, which she attributed to health concerns. She was rehired as a student-athlete service coordinator and promoted to head coach in 2005.

Performance reviews, which described Francis as a model employee, also denote her position in the President's Division of the school. She was given numerous salary increases throughout a career with an above-average winning percentage (.584), conference titles and postseason berths, as well as Coach of the Year honors.

Francis disclosed her relationship with Russi in various documents obtained by The Oakland Press through a Freedom of Information request.

The circumstances created by the couple's relationship were noted by former Oakland University women's basketball player Jenna Bachrouche, who spoke to The Oakland Press, saying Russi had been present on occasions when Francis infringed on her religious beliefs.

In one instance, Bachrouche said the team attended a Christmas party at the campus home shared by Russi and Francis -- for which attendance was mandatory -- where a teammate was instructed to read a Christmas story from the Bible.

Bachrouche also said she had become paranoid about her weight after Francis regularly scrutinized her eating habits. Bachrouche said she felt little could be done about Francis' conduct because of Francis' relationship to the longtime university president, and she came forward only after Francis' firing because she did not want any future players to endure the treatment she said she received.

"I told (Huth) everything that happened," Bachrouche said last month. "He didn't say anything specifically in response. He just said 'I'm sorry.'

"People have complained to administrators about her before, but nobody had been able to do anything."

Bachrouche transferred to Western Michigan University in 2012 after two years at Oakland. During an appeal to the NCAA to regain a year of eligibility, she said she learned there had been no complaints filed with the organization about Francis.

Francis was fired with cause, according to the university, after an internal investigation into her conduct was launched in May. A complaint about her behavior was made in April to an Oakland administrator, the university said. She had been placed on unpaid suspension May 30.

According to a June 26 university statement, that revelation came a year after OU took "corrective action" after "nonsecular conduct" was reported following the 2011-12 season, Bachrouche's last at the school. Bachrouche said she is not the person who contacted an Oakland administrator to file a complaint in April following the most recent season.

Francis and Huth have declined to comment, as Oakland University has a policy that forbids commenting on personnel matters. Also, Francis' contract includes a nondisparage agreement, which prohibits her from commenting about the athletic director or the university.

Faculty athletics representative Robby Stewart, whose duties include providing feedback to the athletics department about student-athlete welfare issues, has also declined to comment.